Will genetic sequencing lead to a new racism?

Advances in genetic sequencing are giving rise to a new era of scientific racism, despite decades of efforts to reverse attitudes used to justify the slave trade and Nazi theology, experts said on Friday.

New forms of discrimination, known as neoracism, are taking hold in scientific research, spreading the belief that races exist and are different in terms of biology, behavior and culture, according to anthropologists who spoke at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Chicago.

“Genome science can help us a lot in the individualization of medical practice,” said Nina Jablonski, an anthropology professor at The Pennsylvania State University.

But she warned that science could be “misused” to propagate the belief that people inherently have different abilities based on skin color or ethnic background.